Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Hey Pack,
Thank you all so much for your kind words and well wishes over the past months. I stepped back from most things related to the channel for a little while just to give myself some space to grieve and heal and am only now slowly starting to come back to read and respond, but it's been truly amazing to see just how many people reached out. I really appreciate your grace and patience with me through this time, especially with it coming so close to the saga release, as I know we've been waiting a long time to really delve into those stories and didn't expect life to intervene so suddenly right after. This was an incredibly difficult way to start off the year, but I've been so blessed to have a lot of help and support from my family and friends through this time, and I'm so grateful for all of your encouragement as well.
In my previous post I mentioned that Evvie was an emotional support animal, and that in light of that, I would be beginning the search for a new companion or companions. I'm grateful to be able to announce that I've welcomed a few new arrivals to the pack, and so you can expect some new introductions in the near future. A lot of the past two months has also gone toward helping everyone settle in and making sure that everyone gets along well and will be a good fit for me and for each other. Now that we've all had a little time to adjust and it seems like everyone is doing well, I'm slowly moving back toward working on videos again. They likely won't resume right away, as I want to prerecord a bit and may need to adjust for more disruptions than usual, but my hope is to start making videos again as we move into spring.
This season has been a very bittersweet one, with both a lot of sorrow and a lot of new joys too. I appreciate everyone's understanding as I've taken time to weather those first in my personal life before returning to my work here. I'm hoping I can catch up on comments soon, as well as introduce you to the new friends you can expect to see here on the channel in the future. I also do just want to make sure y'all know I'm okay, as I've gotten some concerned inquiries too. I appreciate you guys checking in, and I am doing much better than I was-- I've just been taking time to lean on those close to me in my personal life as I weather this storm and season of change.
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Hey Pack,
This is not the sort of update that I ever hope to have to make.
Over the past few years, many of you have come to know and love Evelyn, my kitty who loved to make her presence known in my videos. She has been part of my life for three and a half years, and moved with me halfway across the country when I first came to Wisconsin. From the moment I met her, she wanted to be the center of attention, and her friendly and vocal nature quickly won her the spotlight in any room she walked into. She had a particular fondness for interrupting my videos and streams to announce her arrival.
Early on the morning of January 2nd, Evelyn began showing signs of distress, and had to be rushed to an emergency vet. There, an x ray revealed the presence of a significant and previously unknown abnormality on her lungs which had progressed to a critical point. This diagnosis came completely without warning, as it had never caused prior complications or become evident in routine checkups or bloodwork, however due to the placement and nature of the abnormality, there was little that could be done to treat it. Evelyn passed away at around 6am on January 2nd. I was with her until the end.
As many of you know, Evelyn invited herself into my life in the summer of 2021, when she turned up in my backyard and refused to leave. Her arrival came less than two months after my last childhood cat Shadow had passed away, and she quickly became a light in one of the darkest seasons of my life. When our attempts at locating an owner made it clear that she was a stray, I adopted her, and she became my constant companion through the years in which I first ventured out on my own. She accompanied me through three separate moves-- one of which took us across multiple states, and the most recent of which occurred just a few months ago toward the end of 2024, into a place I hope I'll be able to stay long term. Her loud voice and communicative nature filled all of my homes with so much life.
In the past I have been open about my struggles with mental health and depression. At the advice of my therapist, Evelyn became my emotional support animal, and she has been a source of stability and comfort through these past years of change. Although she was never thrilled with car rides (especially ones that entailed a cross country road trip), she was always quick to make herself at home when we reached our destination, and that helped me feel at home too. She wasn't shy about communicating her needs, and her confidence and clarity in using her voice helped me grow in confidence in using my own. She was always content with the simple life we shared, and while she loved a good meal or a good round of pouncing on a stick under a rug, her favorite way to pass the day was to curl up somewhere near me to nap while I worked.
Over the past few days I have been absolutely overwhelmed with support from family and friends. Although saying goodbye this suddenly was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, I have been so loved by those around me as I've struggled through it. I am being mindful of my mental health and will be taking a break from my typical routine for as long as I need to, and I appreciate your patience and understanding through this time. I'm not sure exactly what this will look like for the channel-- I intend to put videos on a pause until I have had the chance to catch my breath, but if I feel the need to return to that normalcy I may come back to them sooner. I'm taking it one day at a time and will weigh where I'm at in the moment.
As Evelyn was an emotional support animal, I will most likely be looking to welcome a new member to the pack sooner rather than later. No animal could ever replace her, nor would I want them to, but I recognize that I do much better when I have a companion, and Evelyn herself was instrumental in my healing as I grieved the loss of Shadow. I'm taking time to weigh my options and seek a companion who will be a good fit for me and my lifestyle, but don't be surprised if my return is accompanied by the introduction of a new four legged friend. I will always carry Evelyn with me in my heart, but I need a new voice to break the silence her absence leaves behind.
Evelyn was truly one of the most incredible animals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Though our time together was all too brief, the moments we had are some of the ones I hold most precious to me. She helped me find my courage, and now every time I call upon it I will think of her. I know the pain I feel now at her absence will pale looking back upon the joy we shared as the days go by, and I thank God every day for bringing her into my life at a time when I needed her most. She was my miracle.
May you run free in a land without pain or disease, my sweet baby girl.
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WolfQuest saga is here, and to celebrate we'll be airing a back-to-back premiere special featuring the first two episodes of our new Saga series with the original Wayfinders pack! Join Aden and Raven as they face the new trials and triumphs of life in the saga public beta release!
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Most likely gonna take a few days off of videos again, for some reason my voice has started randomly cutting out on me so I'm gonna give it a bit of a rest 😅
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Gonna be a brief pause in videos for a bit as I won't be able to edit for a week or two, but they should return toward the end of the month!
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Hey pack,
Apologies for the impromptu disappearance again, and thank you for all the well wishes. I've been doing alright, I didn't mean to scare anyone by dropping off the face of the map! I ended up taking a longer break than I thought I would, mostly due to some irl business and ongoing issues with burnout, as well as some important decisions I realized I needed to make. I'm gonna be easing back into making videos over the next couple months-- I don't know what the schedule will be just yet because one of those decisions was realizing I need to rethink how I balance my time to prevent myself from overworking, but I'm going to feel out the pace until I figure out what seems like a good balance.
The other big decision is a little more complicated, but in essence, lately I've been feeling a bit stuck in a rut with my content, and has been evidenced by all the pauses, that hasn't necessarily gone away with my taking breaks. The JayPlays channel has been around for 8 years (!!!) as of earlier this month-- I started it up around the end of July/beginning of August in 2016! I've learned a lot in that time, but one of the things I've been noticing is that certain games tend to stick around more than others, and even when I do deviate from that style, I often end up coming back to it in the end. And thinking on that a bit more, I've realized I want to change directions a little bit.
Now, I realize that's kind of a big and scary thing to say, so let me elaborate! It's not quite as big of a change as it sounds. I still do enjoy animal and nature games, and that's still what I intend to feature most heavily on this channel. However, I've noticed I gravitate a lot more heavily to the survival centric games within that genre. That includes games like WolfQuest, but also games like ARK, which isn't so much about playing as an animal as it is surviving in a world full of dangerous ones (and befriending some of them along the way). A lot of the games I already play do fall into this category, but it also extends a bit beyond what I play-- the survival games niche includes stuff like Minecraft too, which is another game that's popped up frequently on this channel and on Plus. Minecraft was even the first series I recorded! But without a lot of mods, it really doesn't fit the animals and nature niche too well, and even with them it's just not quite fit in on the channel. This shift in trajectory will lean a little more into those survival themes becoming a common thread, thus making it more natural to branch out into other titles in a similar vein.
This also doesn't mean I'm going to stop playing animal games with a predetermined story like Stray or Endling either. In fact, for those of you who enjoy that sort of series, I've got a fun surprise coming up soon! But those games also often have a shorter runtime anyway, so they will most likely feature as miniseries rather than longer running ongoing content. And that is again pretty similar to what I've already been doing, so this is more of a redefinition that will open some new doors rather than closing older ones than anything.
I think this new direction will open up some fun possibilities for both games we've never seen on here before, and for games that were fun but never quite fit here to come back. And I do want to thank you all again for the well wishes-- sometimes I don't always post to say that I'm coming back until I know more of when it happens, because I've kind of famously tended to jump back in too soon and burn out again, heh. But I hope no one was too worried. I was just making sure I gave myself enough time to catch my breath.
It's been a wild ride of an 8 year run! Thank you so much to those who've joined me on this journey, whether you've been here from the start or only just got here! I'm excited to see what the next chapter brings :)
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Hey pack,
Sorry for the prolonged radio silence. As I'm sure you may have noticed, I've been on an on and off hiatus for a couple months now. Unfortunately I've been dealing with some minor lingering throat/respiratory issues. It's not anything serious, but it's been an unfortunate nuisance because it's made recording difficult, and has been a slow recovery because talking seems to aggravate it (and it's amazingly hard to avoid talking, especially when you're me haha).
I'm hoping it won't be too much longer before I'm able to get back to my routine, but I wanted to explain why I've been so quiet, because it was a bit out of the blue. Thank you all for your patience as I take time to rest and let my body recover!
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Ravenwing Pack Poll #3 Part 2:
Video: https://youtu.be/45dqcyjqpQo
Welcome to part 2 of the third Ravenwing Pack poll! This will determine one candidate for which wolf we should follow once Cassia's tale concludes. Whichever wolf wins this poll will become a potential heir to the Ravenwing Pack from this litter, running against all potential candidates from other litters to see which one should carry on the legacy. You can view the story so far here--
www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Which litter 3 pup would you like to see become a potential heir to the Ravenwing Pack?
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Ravenwing Pack Poll #3 Part 1:
Video: https://youtu.be/45dqcyjqpQo
Welcome to part 1 of the third Ravenwing Pack poll! This will determine one candidate for which wolf we should follow once Cassia's tale concludes. Whichever wolf wins this poll will become a potential heir to the Ravenwing Pack from this litter, running against all potential candidates from other litters to see which one should carry on the legacy. You can view the story so far here--
www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Which litter 3 pup would you like to see become a potential heir to the Ravenwing Pack?
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Hey y'all, I'm gonna take a short break from streaming, due to some upcoming busy life stuff. If all goes to plan, we'll be back to our usual streaming schedule on November 8th! In the meantime, we'll be getting back to our regular schedule here on the JayPlays channel :)
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Hey, everyone! I'm Jay, a nature and wildlife gamer. I love animals and storytelling, and here on YouTube I'm combining the two to produce quality gaming playthroughs that anyone can enjoy. I'm committed to keeping my content safe for anyone to enjoy, but without sacrificing quality and depth to do so. My playthroughs don't have any foul language, but they do have deep, engaging stories blended with real-world science.
In addition to making gaming videos, I'm also an artist, animator, writer, and coder. Through both my work here on the JayPlays channel and my work outside it, I hope to help fill a void in a world where meaningful, quality content that doesn't rely on mature themes to draw an audience is sorely lacking.
Channel art and icon by me. Logo design by Katy Schifferer:
katyschifferer.com/